Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take part at an event to mark the 284th birth anniversary of Sant Sevalal Maharaj, the revered reformer and preacher of the Banjara community, in the national capital on Monday.

The birth anniversary of the revered preacher was marked on February 15. Shah will be the chief guest on the concluding day of the two-day event to mark the preacher’s birth anniversary, on February 27.

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The two-day long event will kick-off on Sunday at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, Janpath Road in the national capital.

For this event, a special train has set off from Karnataka, in which more than two-and-a-half thousand members of the Banjara community of Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are reaching Delhi.

Sant Sevalal Maharaj was born on February 15, 1739 AD, in Suragondanakoppa of Karnataka’s Shivamogga district. He is considered a social reformer and spiritual teacher of the Banjara society.

It is believed that the Banjara community has a population of about 10 to 12 crore across the country. Recently, the Kumbh of the Banjara community in Maharashtra was organized by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Jalgaon district, in which Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also took part.

Earlier in January, PM Modi during his visit to Karnataka’s Kalaburgi, distributed title deeds (hakku patra) to over 50,000 families of the Banjara community.

Recalling his connections with the region and the Banjara community, the Prime Minister had said that the people from this community have contributed toward national development in their own ways.

“This region and Banjara society is not new to me, because the brothers and sisters of our Banjara community from Rajasthan to western India are making a huge contribution in the development of the nation in their own way. And I’ve always had the pleasure of associating with them since time immemorial. I vividly remember that I was called for a rally in this region during the 1994 assembly elections. And I can never forget that moment when I saw lakhs of our Banjara brothers and sisters in that rally. Lakhs of Banjara mothers and sisters in traditional costumes had come to bless me,” PM Modi had said.

He had also recalled the unforgettable moment when lakhs of Banjara families had come for a rally that the Prime Minister had attended during the 1994 assembly elections.